NEW DELHI: The Election Commission on Sunday announced the schedule for Lok Sabha elections 2019 on Sunday evening.

The LS polls in Karnataka will be held in two phases, with 14 constituencies going to the polls in each phase - April 18 and April 23.

The dates for the seven phases are: April 11, April 18, April 23, April 29, May 6, May 12 and May 19. Counting of votes will be done on May 23.

The Model Code of Conduct comes into effect immediately after the announcement. VVPATs will be used with EVMs at all polling stations in the country.

Assembly polls in Andhra Pradesh, Arunachal Pradesh, Odisha and Sikkim will be held with Lok Sabha polls. Assembly elections in Jammu and Kashmir will not be held along with the LS polls.

The number of total electorate in the general elections is expected to be 900 million, of which 15 million voters are in the age group of 18-19 years. There will be approximately 10 lakh polling stations across the country as compared to 9 lakh polling stations in 2014.